The Walking Dead has just wrapped up season 11B and is gearing up for this summer’s 11C which will conclude with the big finale for the core show. Expect drama, revelations, and a lot of very bloody violence. But even though this will be the closing chapter of The Walking Dead, it’s by no means the end of the franchise.
We’re getting a spinoff about Daryl and Carol on the road, anthology series called Tales of the Walking Dead, more Fear the Walking Dead, and the way off in the future feature film trilogy starring Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes. But the most exciting might be the recently announced Negan/Maggie spinoff Isle of the Dead, which will see the pair exploring the ruins of Manhattan.
Lauran Cohen, who plays Maggie, teased what’s coming in an interview with Comicbook.com. Firstly she confirmed that there have been plans for a Maggie spinoff for some time:
“I know there have always been three, maybe four options for how Maggie would end up in a spinoff. For Maggie or Negan there’s been a bunch of ideas floating around. I think this story that Eli Jorne came up with, which is what we’ll be shooting for season one of Isle of the Dead, was just really powerful and such an interesting way for fans to get to see these characters continue.”
But Isle of the Dead sounds like it was by far the most promising idea, and she and Jeffrey Dean Morgan can’t wait to make it:
“I mean, Jeff and I are just over the moon because it completely serves who they are and where they will end up at the end of Season 11. It’s somehow even more fraught than we’ve been in this season. So it’s good for us because I feel like I got to find things of Maggie that I wanted to explore more, and this backdrop for Isle and in conflict with Negan is such a great opportunity to do it.
So I think they had a lot of different ideas and then they sketched everything out. And whatever feels the most enticing and what we think the fans will be most excited about is what won the day.”
The Walking Dead fans will know that Negan and Maggie aren’t exactly best buds. They have a long and violent history of conflict between them, though recent season 11 episodes indicated that they can work together despite their mutual animosity.
Perhaps the only fly in the ointment is that the Isle of the Dead announcement gives both these characters plot armor for season 11C. One of the best things about this show is that anyone can die, so knowing that spinoffs about Negan, Maggie, Daryl, and Carol are on the way effectively kills any anticipation about their fate as it means they won’t be in any real danger as the show wraps up.
More on Isle of the Dead and The Walking Dead season 11C as we hear it.